Almost a quarter of a century after an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, European countries remain deeply divided over the use of nuclear power. Some are embracing nuclear energy, while others are phasing out their old plants.
Polish government announced plans to build 2 nuclear power plants by 2020. Nuclear power is seen as a way of reducing Poland's reliance on Russian oil and gas, an issue which has grown in importance since Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine earlier this year. Support for the nuclear option appears to be growing in Poland although many fears are justified. The major disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant proved the prophets wrong who underestimated the "residual risk" of nuclear energy. Experts once argued the risk of a nuclear accident was almost non-existent. But that was before Chernobyl. Even today the risk of another explosion remains.
23 years after the Chernobyl tragedy VII Mentor photographer Maciek Nabrdalik was exploring its Exclusion Zone and villages around it where echoes of the worst nuclear disaster in the history of man still resonate. Chernobyl area remains a forbidding, if not a forbidden area.
Abandoned villages, schools and hospitals are slowly being swallowed up by nature or eaten by decay. An emotional journey near the infamous nuclear power plant is also an attempt to face the fears of his childhood in Poland which was also contaminated after the explosion.
Echoes of Chernobyl
Chernobyl-2 secret military base gate seen from inside.
Chernobyl 2 was the secret military soviet over-the-horizon radar base built in the shadow of Chernobyl. After the reactor explosion, the installation received extensive amount of radioactive pollution and was switched off and abandoned.
Drunk man is seen in Stari Sokoli, an abandoned village in closest proximity to the Zone.
A theatre room in abandoned School no 1 in the city of Prypiat evacuated after the nuclear explosion in Chernobyl, on April 26, 1986.
Alina Dziubenko is living with her family in Ilintsy, one of the abandoned villages inside the 30 kilometer zone. Alina is suffering from microcephaly.
Conjoined apples in front of a building in Pripyat
Tatiana Dziubenko and her daughter Alina Dziubenko.
Family living in Ilintsy one of the abandoned villages inside the 30 kilometer zone. Alina is suffering from microcephaly.
Misha entertain his guests playing accordion. He is living in Ilintsy one of the abandoned villages inside the 30 kilometer zone.
Chernobyl power plant and the reflection of reactor no. 4
The explosion of Chernobyl's No. 4 nuclear reactor in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986, sent a huge cloud of radioactive dust over much of Europe.
An Easter Mess in Chernobyl church
A huging couple is seen in Stari Sokoli, an abandoned village in closest proximity to the Zone.
People gather for dinner after a funeral in the village of Strakholesie, near the 30 kilometer zone.
An abondoned boat port building is seen in the city of Prypiat
A house eaten by decay is seen in abandoned village in the exclusion zone
Ivan an inhabitant of Piski village in close proximity to the zone
People gather for a funeral of 52 year old man in the village of Strakholesie, near the 30 kilometer zone.
Lidia Blazhko, 68 who just found out she will be moved out fo her village Tovsty Lis to Kiev.
An Easter Mess in Chernobyl church
Drunk man is seen in Stari Sokoli, an abandoned village in closest proximity to the Zone.
A funeral of 52 year old man in the village of Strakholesie, near the 30 kilometer zone.
The ferris wheel in the abandoned amusement park in the city of Prypiat. The park was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986, but the city of 47,000 had already been evacuated after the April 26, 1986, explosion of Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Drunken men in the village of Strakholesie near the 30 kilometer zone posing for a portrait
A drunken motorcycle rider is seen after an accident in Stari Sokoli an abondned village near the 30 kilometer zone.
A broken barbed wire fence surrounding the exclusion zone is seen on its border with Piski village
Reactor number 4 is seen from the car.
The explosion of Chernobyl's No. 4 nuclear reactor in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986, sent a huge cloud of radioactive dust over much of Europe.
A man in the village of Termakhivka in the closest proximity of the zone is sharing his memories of the Ukraine prior to the explosion of the reactor No. 4
A spruce tree is growing through the cracked asphalt in Pripyat
Ludmila Vasilievna Vasilienka, widow living in Stari Sokoli an abandoned village in closest proximity to the Zone.